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The City of Fairfield Fire Department has a new addition to its training facility located off of Groh Lane. A four-story tower was completed in mid-December.

The tower gives the fire department additional training elements including a Fire Department Connection (FDC), which is the piping located outside a building that feeds the building's sprinkler and/or standpipe system. Fire Department apparatus operators can now practice pumping water to the upper stories of the building and learn about things like friction loss. The building also has sprinklers and a standpipe system in the stairwell.

Built-in PVC piping facilitates the distribution of artificial smoke throughout the building for exercises such as search and rescue. Anchor points rated for 10,000 pounds each are on the flat roof and can be used for rope rescue training. Firefighters can now use the aerials or ground ladders for training scenarios.

The new tower is adjacent to the two-story burn building, which has been operational for almost two years. This building has two separate burn rooms for live fire exercises and includes movable walls for search and rescue, along with several other training simulators.

Another addition to the training facility is the roof simulator. This simulator has two different roof pitches to allow firefighters to become familiar with safely working on different types of roofs. Firefighters will be able to work from a roof ladder while cutting ventilation holes using power saws or axes. After each exercise the plywood and shingles can be replaced.

The department also purchased a propane-fed training simulator that allows firefighters to practice putting out car and dumpster fires without all the mess. The simulator is also safer because in the event of an actual emergency it can be shut off at the touch of a button.